1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of driving a display panel and a display apparatus for performing the method. More particularly, exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a method of driving a display panel capable of improving side visibility and a display apparatus for performing the method.
2. Discussion of the Background
Generally, a liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus displays an image by applying a voltage to a liquid crystal layer interposed between two substrates to control a light transmittance.
The LCD apparatus has a disadvantage in that a viewing angle is relatively narrow since light is passed through only in the direction in which light is not blocked by liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer to display an image. As a result, a vertical alignment (VA) LCD apparatus has been developed.
The VA LCD apparatus includes two substrates that have received VA treatments on opposite faces and a liquid crystal layer having negative type dielectric constant anisotropy sealed between the two substrates. The liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer have homeotropic alignment characteristics.
In an operation, when a voltage is not applied between the two substrates, the liquid crystal molecules are arranged approximately vertically to the surface of the substrate to display black. When a certain voltage is applied between the two substrates, the liquid crystal molecules are arranged approximately horizontally to the surface of the substrate to display white. When a smaller voltage than the voltage for displaying white is applied, the liquid crystal molecules are arranged to be diagonally inclined to the surface of the substrate to display gray.
Such an LCD apparatus has a disadvantage in that the viewing angle may be narrow. Patterned vertical alignment (PVA) and super-PVA (SPVA) LCD apparatuses have been developed to address this.
The PVA LCD apparatus uses technology that arranges the liquid crystal molecules vertically to the surface of the substrate and forms uniform slit patterns or projection patterns on pixel electrodes and a common electrode opposite to the pixel electrodes to divide pixels into multiple domains. The PVA LCD apparatus is a technique which divides a pixel into two sub-pixels and applies different pixel voltages to the sub-pixels. Here, the sub-pixels have different distribution characteristics of the liquid crystal to improve side visibility.
However, the above method requires a patterning process for forming the sub-pixels, and transmittance may be decreased by patterning.